How to celebrate a children's birthday and not go broke

How not to splurge on organizing a children's birthday

1. Decide on a budget

The first step in organizing any party is to decide how much you are willing to spend on it. If you don't set a limit, you end up losing more money than you bargained for.

Having decided on the total amount, break it down into categories: set a financial ceiling for buying food, jewelry, spending on entertainment. If your child is old enough, involve him in budgeting. This experience is a great opportunity to teach children how to manage money.

2. Be rational in your topic selection

A party in the style of a Ladybug and Supercat cartoon or Marvel superhero movies is, of course, a bright thing. But if you are planning something like that, stop for a moment and estimate the costs. For example, calculate how much money will go to themed plates, paper cups, napkins, tablecloth, and balloons. The amount will impress you, we guarantee. But in addition to jewelry, you will also need appropriate costumes, accessories, toy weapons, themed sweets …

In general, assess your capabilities soberly. And also remember: the most interesting thing at the holiday is the opportunity to have fun with friends and blow out the candles on the cake (even if not decorated with superheroes). Decoration is a funny thing, but still a secondary one.

3. Consider not serving the treat

Or, as a last resort, limit yourself to a holiday cake and tea. Treats take up a significant chunk of the holiday budget, especially if not only children are invited to the party, but also their parents.

To make the lack of treats less noticeable, schedule an afternoon holiday.

4. Decide on the location of the party

A holiday outside the home is always more expensive. If your child insists on going to a cafe or entertainment center, try to find out why. Most likely, the matter is in the festive atmosphere with which these establishments are filled. Promise the future birthday boy that you and him will decorate the apartment so that it becomes indistinguishable from the children's center. And of course, keep your promise.

Balloons, a “Happy Birthday!” Garland hanging from the ceiling, party hats and whistles for all guests will cost less than a collective visit to the amusement park.

5. Save on wrapping paper

Gift wrapping (especially in specialized service points) is not cheap pleasure. If you are running out of money, be creative a little. Gifts can be wrapped in comic pages, old T-shirts, and even bubble wrap, which postal services use to preserve the contents of the package. Any of these options will look original and bright.

6. Limit the number of guests

A memorable birthday can be spent without a crowd of friends. Invite your child to invite only 2–3 of your most loyal friends to the party.

However, for a good children's birthday, guests are not required at all: a family holiday can be no less joyful. And how to paint it with impressions and budget gifts - read below.

How to celebrate a children's birthday

1. Build a photo zone

You will need a couple of old cardboard boxes (from under the TV, refrigerator, other large household appliances). But you can also limit yourself to a screen or wooden picture frames.

Use these materials to create a "photo booth" and decorate its walls with hats, scarves, wigs, paper mustaches and any other fun things you can find at home. Next, hand the guests a camera or phone and offer a prize for the funniest picture. Later, these photos can be sent to the parents of young guests.

2. Organize a play area with balls

Plastic balls can be bought at any children's store, and they are quite inexpensive. Fill a large cardboard box or inflatable paddling pool with these. Then throw a few small gifts in the same place, or, for example, wishes written on rolled sheets of paper. Then the children will be busy not only with the game, but also with the search for trophies.

Ideally, 2-3 children can fit in a box of balloons at the same time.

3. Prepare a dance party

Children's birthday: prepare a dance party

Children love to dance to music, especially in a company. Download the favorite songs of the birthday boy and his friends in advance, free up space for the dance floor - and at the right moment turn on the music (preferably not directly from a laptop or phone, but at least through Bluetooth speakers).

You can diversify the disco with a game, for example, invite the children to freeze in place at the moment when you stop the composition for a few seconds. Also a good option is to inflate a couple of dozen balloons in advance and let the children throw them at each other.

4. Have a chef's day

Prepare a treat together for the children to eat later. The easiest way is to make shortbread dough: it kneads quickly, molds well, and you can cut funny figures out of it. Give each child a piece of dough and offer to mold what will later go to the oven.

You can also give young chefs small pieces of paper. Let everyone write down wishes for friends on their sheets, and then hide them in cookies. When it comes to treats, the kids will love retrieving and reading these messages.

5. Make a castle and swords from cardboard boxes

Children's birthday: make a castle and swords from cardboard boxes

To do this, you will have to find large packages in advance. When the children get together, invite them to build a magic castle, a fortified fort or a pirate ship out of this cardboard. Help cut through windows and doors, glue boxes together. You can also give the kids felt-tip pens and paints and paint the resulting structure together.

To add a playful element, cut out swords and shields for campaigns of conquest. Cardboard gear can also be colored to your liking. And from old T-shirts it is easy to build knightly capes and cloaks.

6. Build a castle with pillows and blankets

Just collect all the pillows, cushions, rugs, blankets that you find at home and give them to the children. Let them build houses, huts, labyrinths from them. If you combine this entertainment with the paragraph above, you can at the same time arrange conquest battles, attacking and defending the castle with soft toys.

7. Arrange fights with water pistols

Children's Birthday Party: Have Water Gun Battles

Go to a fixed-price store and buy a couple dozen toy pistols that are water-charged. Install in your backyard (if you live in a private house) or lawn where the party is taking place, a large basin of water for reloading weapons, and into battle!

8. Go on a hike with a picnic at the end

Children's Birthday: Go on a Hike with a Finale Picnic

Children love bonfires, and a birthday by the fire is sure to be unforgettable. Take a small tent or shed with you, prepare marshmallows for frying, sausages, bread, tea, and go with the birthday boy and his guests for a walk … no, no, on a real hike through the nearest forest! Don't forget to bring matches and lighter fluid.

9. Arrange a treasure hunt

Hide some valuable prize somewhere in the house or on the street. And on the way to it, lay out pieces of paper with tips. For example, the first one, which you give to the children before starting the quest, may be written: “Follow the tree with small yellow fruits. You will find a stone three steps away from it. Below is the next clue."

The quest can be long or short, depending on how many clues you have in your imagination.

10. Prepare your child a book with checks for joy

This is an almost free and very original gift option - an ideal solution for the case if you have very little money and there is no way to invite guests. Take a regular children's album and paste pieces of paper or pictures cut from magazines with signatures into it. Each should describe one of the activities that make your child happy or that he regularly asks of you. For example:

Play another hour on your phone.
Watch cartoons for another half hour.
Go for a walk together with dad.
Go to the movies with my mom for a cool cartoon.
Take a ride in the park.
For dad to tell a story before bed.
Go to the store and buy me a little present.
Permission to eat one more candy.

Several dozen of these checks can be pasted into the album. And then hand it over to the birthday boy, warning that you will fulfill one of his wishes a day. The child will remember such a gift forever, because this book is akin to real magic.

11. Just spend your day with your little birthday boy

In fact, children do not need so much: most of them are ready to exchange a toy or a treat for the opportunity to lie with their mother under a blanket, go fishing with their father, take a walk in the park with the whole family, holding hands.

Give your child a whole day dedicated only to the birthday boy. Do nice things: paint together, feed the ducks on the lake, dance, ride a swing, play football. And remember: all your attention, all your energy on this “gift” day should be directed to the baby. This is the best gift for him, the memories of which he will keep for the rest of his life.